LETTER: ASUSU, PLC not really leaders
Dear Editor,
In response to the article “PLC members aid Utah State, render service,” I have praise tempered with a few points of suggestion.
First, I agree with your article: Students fortunate enough to be selected to the PLC scholarship do indeed render meaningful service to our school. There is no doubt, considering the amount of time they put into their jobs they deserve the scholarship they hold.
My suggestions are these: It is misleading to constantly refer to the roles PLCers (as well as student government officials) fill as “leadership” roles. These roles are, in fact, management roles. The two concepts should never be confused by any citizenry attempting to come at profitable conclusions on how to deal with the world’s complexity.
Leaders inspire and teach while managers attend meetings and give tours. Leaders gain boldness and verve in the crucible of life’s various experiences; managers gain an appearance of cohesion by carrying day planners, attending leadership retreats and spending time in leadership “academies.”
Leaders are never satisfied with the status quo, understanding that the hidden dynamics of success demand they be constantly on their toes. Managers defend entrenched interests through routinized paper pushing. Leaders push and prod out of commitment to principles which can never be fully satisfied; managers take comfort in their titles, elections and achievements.
To bring these abstractions down to Earth a bit, I suggest we have a very fine leader on this campus in President Kermit L. Hall. One of many examples of President Hall’s leadership has been his effort to prepare our university for the demands of both the near and distant future through his emphasis on genomics.
Don’t get me wrong, managers have a very important role in a capitalist society such as ours. I do not wish to undermine the legitimacy of that role. I simply want to suggest that 1) our school not confuse the type of talent it is breeding in programs such as PLC and Associated Students of USU. And 2) suggest that true leadership is a rare metal, but not so rare that we should make fool’s gold of metal which is intrinsically – and irretrievably – less valuable than the gold we seek after.
Jeremy Wooden